Composer. A Benedictine monk, he was one of the last noteworthy composers whose style was rooted in the polyphonic Renaissance tradition. Cererols was born in Martorell, Spain. At age eight he joined the choir of the Montserrat Monastery near Barcelona and spent his entire life there, becoming a novice in 1636 and a monk in 1648. He studied music with Joan Marques and succeeded him as Montserrat's music director in 1658. Despite his cloistered existence Cererols kept informed of the outside world, and his two best known compositions were inspired by actual events. The elaborate "Battle Mass" for three choirs (c. 1649) celebrated Spain's 1648 victory over France in Naples; the Requiem ("Missa pro defunctis", c. 1654) commemorated the great plague that decimated Barcelona's population in the early 1650s. His other works include the "Missa Primero Tono" (c. 1660), 11 Psalms, and numerous hymns, canticles, and secular Spanish songs. Johann Sebastian Bach used the theme of Cererols's motet "Ay que dolor!" for the opening chorus of his great "St. Matthew Passion" (1729). (bio by: Bobb Edwards)